AUGUST 28, 2000

Barry Green at BAR?

THE paddock in Spa was buzzing with rumors that CART team owner Barry Green could be about to take over the runningof British American Racing from current chief executive Craig Pollock. The rumors coincide with suggestions that Michael Andretti will join a Team Kool Green offshoot next season. Andretti says that at 37 years of age he would like to move into team management but he still wants to win the Indianapolis 500. Andretti's current employer Carl Haas has no interest in being involved in the Indy Racing League event and it may be that Andretti's move to Green will result in him becoming team manager and perhaps even a shareholder in the longer term. In the short term the team is expected to continue with its current drivers Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti although the Scotsman may move to F1 in 2002.

Green is 48 and comes from Australia. He began working with Paul Newman's team in CanAm in 1981 before joining the Forsythe Indycar team in 1983. When Forsythe quit CART Green moved to Kraco and stayed on when the team was merged with Galles and then in 1993 he was offered the chance to become co-owner of the Forsythe/Green team in Formula Atlantic. The team then moved to CART in 1994 although the relationship did not survive the year and Team Green was established in 1995 and ran Jacques Villeneuve to success in the CART series and in the Indianapolis 500.

British American Tobacco has always wanted a completely integrated sponsorship program around the globe and it may be that Green would be put in charge of that. It is hard to see why Green would want to work in F1. Rather than dumping Craig Pollock BAT would be more likely to keep him on as a board member. Pollock appears to be learning from his early mistakes in F1 but his powerbase within BAT has been weakened in recent months as his allies have been transferred to other jobs.